Performers
Bogdan Paprocki
An outstanding Polish tenor. Enlisted in the Reserve Officer Cadet School in Zamość in 1939, he sang in a barbershop quartet there, and fought in the 1939 defensive war. He took up professional voice training in Lublin with Eugeniusz Kopp (1943), and continued it with Ignacy Dygas, already as a soloist in the Representative Artistic Ensemble of the Polish Armed Forces.
In 1946–1960 he was a soloist at Bytom’s Silesian Opera. From 1957 he sang at Warsaw Opera (the later Teatr Wielki), where he was a full-time soloist from 1961 until the late 1980s, and still performed in the 1990s. He starred in several memorable productions under the tenure of Bohdan Wodiczko, including Stravinsky Evening, Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue, and Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero. With the Teatr Wielki company he performed in Budapest, Sofia, Oslo, Belgrade, Mexico City, Lisbon, and Madrid. In 1959 he was offered a contract with New York City Opera, but decided to stay in Poland.
He was unequalled as Stefan in Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor. His repertoire comprised c. 60 operatic roles, as well as songs (particularly by Moniuszko) and largecale vocal-instrumental works. In the last years of his life, he would occasionally return to the stage (for Verdi’s Nabucco in 2007 and Moniuszko’s Halka in 2008).
He was presented with the Commander’s Cross (1959) and Commander’s Cross with Star (1997) of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
In 1946–1960 he was a soloist at Bytom’s Silesian Opera. From 1957 he sang at Warsaw Opera (the later Teatr Wielki), where he was a full-time soloist from 1961 until the late 1980s, and still performed in the 1990s. He starred in several memorable productions under the tenure of Bohdan Wodiczko, including Stravinsky Evening, Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue, and Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero. With the Teatr Wielki company he performed in Budapest, Sofia, Oslo, Belgrade, Mexico City, Lisbon, and Madrid. In 1959 he was offered a contract with New York City Opera, but decided to stay in Poland.
He was unequalled as Stefan in Moniuszko’s The Haunted Manor. His repertoire comprised c. 60 operatic roles, as well as songs (particularly by Moniuszko) and largecale vocal-instrumental works. In the last years of his life, he would occasionally return to the stage (for Verdi’s Nabucco in 2007 and Moniuszko’s Halka in 2008).
He was presented with the Commander’s Cross (1959) and Commander’s Cross with Star (1997) of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
